Published: August 14, 2008 12:16 am      

Boilers’ run at title comes up short

WASHINGTON, Pa. — It’s unusual for a baseball player to get two hits in an inning. When more than one player does it on the same team, like Gurabo, Puerto Rico, did Wednesday, it usually means a pretty good offensive night.

Gurabo had five players get two hits in an inning against Johnstown. Thing is, all five got them in the same inning.

The Caribbean Zone champions scored 12 times in the bottom of the third and quickly disposed of Johnstown’s B. Hale Boilers as Gurabo eliminated the Host Area champions with a 12-2, five-inning victory at the Pony World Series at Lew Hays Pony Field.

Gurabo advances to play undefeated Taichung City, Taiwan, today at 5:30 p.m.

The third inning was one of those nightmare frames for Boilers manager Josh Day, who could only sit and watch Gurabo pound out hit after hit.

“As a batter, when you have confidence, that’s everything,” Day said. “(Gurabo hitters) saw guys in front of them having success and when you get confidence like that then hitting becomes contagious.”

The game was scoreless until the third as Johnstown pitcher Jesse Cooper and Gurabo pitcher Edgardo Rivera were effective early on.

Jan Ramos led off the third with a single and moved to third when Angel Flores dropped a single just in front of right fielder Nick White.

Cooper hit Christian E. Rivera with a pitch to load the bases before Vimael Machin lined a grand slam over the right field wall, and halfway up the hill behind the fence.

The 30th grand slam in Pony World Series history gave Gurabo a 4-0 lead.

Richard Gonzalez reached on an infield single before Rivera ended Cooper’s night with a two-run homer to right to make it 6-0.

“We were sitting on his fastball,” Gurabo manager Luis Rosario said. “We saw he was trying to hit the corners and we told our players to wait on outside fastballs.”

Ben Legath was brought into pitch and things didn’t get any better as he also allowed six runs and six hits in the inning.

Ramos and Flores had consecutive RBI singles, Rivera scored a run on a fielder’s choice, Gonzalez drilled a two-run double to left and Rivera followed with a run-scoring single for his third RBI of the inning.

By the time three outs were recorded, Flores, Machin, Gonzalez, Rivera and Ramos each had two hits in the inning.

“Another big inning,” Day said two days after Taichung City scored six runs in the fourth of Johnstown’s 13-1 loss Monday. “We left some pitches over the plate and they hit them well.”

Johnstown tried to keep the game going scoring twice in the fifth.

Dillon Boyer walked and Max Strasiser reached on an infield single to begin the inning. After Cooper flied out, Legath hit an RBI double off relief pitcher Jose Osorio and Brian Laurito followed with a RBI-single.

But Justin Gdula hit into a game-ending double play to send Johnstown home.

“We came out flat,” Day said. “But we battled to the end and that’s all you can ask of 13- and 14-year-old kids. We can walk out with our heads held high.”